Dunfermline’s Outwith Festival WILL go ahead next year with early bird tickets going on sale today (Friday).

The arts extravaganza, six days of live music, comedy, film, theatre, literature and kids events, has been a huge hit in the town but there were fears for its future.

The demise in September of main organisers Dunfermline Delivers, the Business Improvement District company, placed a question mark against the festival but it’s been confirmed that Outwith will return from September 1 to 6.

Chris Foote, of Delivering Dunfermline, said: “Everyone at the festival has been working extremely hard in order to come up with a new exciting programme for Outwith 2020.

“We are already in advanced talks with some very exciting headliners for the festival. We hope to announce the first names on the bill early in the New Year.

“After 2019’s success, our funders have been very positive about supporting the festival again in 2020 and we’ll also be applying for funding to a wide range of new organisations.”

After 2019’s sell-out success, the all-day music event will also be back, taking place on Saturday September 5 next year.

Live music will take place at various sites across the town from 3pm until midnight and one ticket gives you access to all of the ticketed venues all day.

The 2019 line-up included Scottish heavyweights Idlewild, Honeyblood, William McCarthy from New York’s Augustines and The Charlatans legendary frontman, Tim Burgess.

It also included some of the most exciting emerging artists from Scotland, the UK and further afield, such as Siobhan Wilson, Avalanche Party, Meursault, Lucia, Man of Moon, Foreignfox, The Van T’s, Dancing on Tables, Rebecca Vasmant, Oskar Braves, Shredd, Moonlight Zoo, Goodnight Louisa, Paris Street Rebels, Scarlett Randle and Sunstinger.

They're confident of bringing more stellar acts to town and the festival also provides a financial boost, attracting more than 9,000 attendees with a net economic impact almost double that of the previous year at £334,000.

Audiences were up by 26 per cent compared to 2018, with one in five people travelling from outside Fife.

Confirmation that Outwith will be back is a credit to the new group, Delivering Dunfermline, and their backers.

The company that organised this year’s festival, Dunfermline Delivers, lost its renewal ballot earlier this year and was wound up on September 20.

Thanks to ‘transitional’ funding of £100,000 from Fife Council, a new community interest company, Delivering Dunfermline, has been set up, with the same staff, to take over the town centre events and initiatives.

The council money will only last around six months, to the end of this financial year, and a new funding source has yet to be found with approaches to the Scottish Government yet to pay off.

However the runaway success of Outwith – this year it received funding from EventScotland, Carnegie Dunfermline Trust, Fife Council and Fife Events Fund – has already helped secure its return.

It's become a main fixture in the calendar and early-bird tickets for 2020’s event go on-sale today at this year’s price of £20 via www.outwithfestival.co.uk, onfife.com and direct at Carnegie Hall Box Office.

Chris smiled: “There will be a very limited number going on-sale in plenty of time to fill up your Christmas stockings!”